Plates of Arceus
by riddletharalts
Summary: The race for the plates caused and ended the third great shinobi war. Now the next generation must somehow train their partners and collect the plates themselves before another war starts. Maybe they should graduate first. Sorry first story, first summary. Rated T just in case. Warning Yaoi and OOC characters
1. The Evaluation

**Plates of Arceus**

 _Chapter 1_

 _The Evaluation_

I slowly opened my eyes only to close them with a groan; there was a lone, bare light bulb dangling above my head, shining straight into my eyes. There weren't any lights above my bed back at my apartment; did I roll off my bed again? No, I was still off the ground. This wasn't my apartment.

I carefully peeled open one of my eyes and looked around, trying to figure out where I was. The walls and ceiling didn't give me any clues, they were grey plaster and as bear as the light bulb trying to blind me. I couldn't see the floor to well but it seemed to be smooth gray concrete until it reached my temporary bed.

What was this anyway? A hospital bed, with restraining leather straps and chakra suppressant seals; just great, I hate hospitals! Whoever pinned me to this thing was seriously taking no chances; they even took my favorite blue PJs and replaced them with some scratchy white hospital scrubs.

"Okay, okay. Calm down, Naruto." I muttered to myself in a vain effort to calm myself. "Take another look around and find out where you are, then you can try to escape. You are a shinobi in training and the future Hokage! You can do this."

Another check of the ceiling and the three walls (I could see) revealed nothing new, so I carefully arched my back and tried to twist myself, as far as my restraints would let me, so that I was looking over my left shoulder. Behind my cushioned prison was yet another gray plaster wall, this time interrupted by a steel door with a thin, maybe two-inch tall pane of bubbly, frosted glass with letters on it.

It took me a few moments to translate the backwards, upside-down, and hazy letters, but I was eventually able to read something along the lines of "Poke-Partners Exam Room 13". Once I deciphered that, I flopped back onto my bed and started sweating.

Okay good news! I wasn't kidnapped by random villagers or rogue shinobi. Bad news; I was about to start the Konoha Shinobi Academy Graduation exam, which in itself was great, but…

"Already?" I whispered to myself, shaking in spite of the straps pinning me. "I-I can't fail this!" Cue panic. Well you can't really blame me; I suck at tests, and this one is supposed to be really tough, not to mention life-altering.

"Kit, Kit! Stop working yourself up; you've got to calm down." Warm chakra started coursing itself up and down my spine, causing the seals around my gut to start smoking. Thankfully Uncle Kyuu's attempts to comfort weren't as vicious as they used to be. I don't know who he'd threaten to eat in this particular situation, or worse, whatever torture methods he'd promise to use, but I really did not need those mental images right now. Sadly, his attempts still didn't do much good.

After all, I was strapped to a hospital bed (isn't it called a gurney?), about to take the first part of my graduation exam, and you can never tell who will pass or not. To this day no academy student knows what the criteria for passing are supposed to be, and the graduates from previous years are sworn to secrecy. We aren't even allowed to know who the examiners are!

"Oh, Crud, dattebayo!" I shouted, not able to take the pressure anymore.

"Really, Kit?" Uncle Kyuu groaned.

"Don't mock the catch phrase Uncle." I quipped back. Having heard his complaint about my Word coming before he even opened his mouth. I really didn't want to get into that argument with him, it takes hours to finish.

"Any new ideas on what the test is gonna be?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"No."

I groaned. "Well, I guess all I can do is get comfy and wait for the examiner." I decide. Wasting no time, I start to stretch as best I can with the restraints on, trying to rid myself of my stiff muscles. I winced as I forced my legs to move; "Just how long was I out anyway?"

Before I could get an answer, the door to my cell opened up behind me and a man with long dirty blonde hair pulled into a ponytail and a konoha headband came into view. He shook his head at something behind me, probably the person who opened the door for him. I don't see how else he could've gotten in here with his hands full; carrying a massive file and a clipboard in one hand and a mug (strong coffee, if the smell was anything to go by) and a pen in the other.

"He looks like the Ino Yamanaka girl from your class, Kit." Uncle informed me, effectively returning my attention to him instead of the door I couldn't see. I could easily tell what he meant; same hair (in the almost exact same style too), same eye shape, his were hazel, not pale blue like Ino's, though. He also had that slightly weathered look you normally see in old men, but this man had to be around forty years old, way too young to have that look. Unless you were a shinobi, that is.

"Naruto Uzumaki, academy student number 68664, do you know why you're here?" The gender-swapped Ino lookalike asked me in what seemed to be his gentlest voice.

"This is p-part of the graduation test, right?" I couldn't stop that stutter; thankfully male-Ino ignored it.

"Yes. My name is Inoichi Yamanaka, and I am here to give you a psych exam." Part of my panicked a little at the thought of having to pass a shrink test, another part was just marveling at the fact that my examiner was related to Ino after all.

I gulped. (This is gonna be bad. I'm not exactly known for being sane back at academy; throw uncle Kyuu into the mix and this is gonna guarantee me a psycho status for life!)

"Who is Uncle Kyuu?" Inoichi interrupted my interior monologue.

I froze for half a second before turning to look at him. He just sat there, calmly waiting for an answer I was terrified to give.

Inoichi sighed before talking yet again in that gentle voice. "Please relax, Naruto. No harm can come to you in this room, and the only thing I can say leaving here is that you either are ready, or you are not. I am not here to judge you personally, only your mental wellbeing; since this Uncle Kyuu is a big part of your psyche, I need to know roughly who he is." His hand gently covered mine.

I can feel his worry, and his honesty. It's clear as day to me now. This always happens to me when I touch people; usually it scares me, but this time I decide to trust it.

I looked back to my examiner and giggled a little. (Seriously, only a little and it was a pretty manly giggle, all right?) His head was cocked to one side and his eyebrows were smooshed together, kinda like his lips were, only going side to side not up and down. He looked like a confused puppy.

He blinked at me while giggled, then smiled.

"Just warning you: Uncle Kyuu is hard to describe, but I'll see what I can do." I said as sternly as I could all tied up. "Uncle is, well he lives in my head, sort of, but he isn't there all the time and he's NOT imaginary." I glared at Inoichi until he nodded. "Uncle doesn't do a lot of the nit-picky, clingy parent stuff, but he does take care of me. He heals me when I'm hurt, which is pretty often, tries to calm me down when I'm mad or scared, and he actually listens to me unlike most adults." I finish with a bit of venom. (Hey, most adults are jerks. If it weren't for the fact that the Hokage has to try to protect all of the people in the village, I probably wouldn't give them a single glance.)

Sadly, that was all I knew about my Uncle Kyuu. He is kind of a private person. The only other thing I might be able to tell Yamanaka-san is that he loves furry things and violence. I didn't think that would go over too well though.

Inoichi was quite for a moment before he asked me," Has this Uncle of yours ever asked you to harm anyone who has done nothing to harm you?"

This question seemed more weighted than anything else he had said. Since he seemed to be able to read my mind anyway, I decided to answer honestly. (Besides, I probably won't remember the lie later anyway.)

"Well, he used threaten to do some pretty violent things to people who hurt me, but he never asked me to do anything like that and he got a lot better about it once I entered academy."(Mostly because I was now being guarded like all civilian-born students were, and my attackers couldn't be as blatant.)

Inoichi was quite again, so I looked over at him. (When did I look away?) He was thinking hard, which made him look like a confused puppy again. I didn't stop giggling until he squeezed my hand.

"Thank you for telling me." He said as he moved to leave. "I know you're tired despite the amount of sleep you got earlier, get some rest. You pass."

I felt something stab the back of my knee and I started drifting off to sleep.

 **Author's note:**

Okay so none of the characters or places in this anime belong to me, they belong to their rightful owners. The only thing I own is the idea to mash all this stuff up in the way that I did. Does that work for a disclaimer?

Alrighty, Hi everyone. I borrowed a bunch of ideas to throw this story together including some dragon ball z elements, an idea mentioned in one episode of Winx club, and some inspiration from other writer's works including "Power of Partnership", Reflections of Exile", and"The Fishy Hyuuga".

A special thanks to the people who wrote those fic's, Iv'e reread them multiple times.

I've already got the rough outlines for the next two chapters written out and I'll type them up as soon as I can; until then, feedback is greatly appreciated as this is my first fan fiction.


	2. Inching Forward

(Thoughts in private)

 _Thoughts projected via telepathy_

 _Chapter 2_

 _Inching Forward_

 **Naruto's POV**

(Why was I so tired?) The past two days I swear I've done nothing but sleep! I'm not the only one either; over half the class is exhausted. I know we've been doing survival exercises and taijutsu training almost nonstop the past week, but we shouldn't all be this tired.

Good, I'm finally at my desk. Kiba's out cold behind me; maybe I should join him? Iruka sensei won't be starting class for a few minutes.

I woke with a start as something landed on my head.

"Chika!" chirped Basil, Iruka Sensei's newest Pokémon and sort of the class pet. (The girls argue over who she likes best; jokes on them, Basil loves me!)

Very carefully, I reach up and take the strange puppy\bean shaped Pokémon off my head and set her on my desk so I can look her over. The large, dark green leaf sticking out of her head didn't seem to be damaged; neither did the bud-like sprouts that ringed around her neck like a collar. There weren't any weird yellowy\green spots marring the pretty mint color of the rest of her body. I gave a quick sigh of relief.

Basil was perfectly fine. (Good thing, too. Iruka sensei would kill me if anything happened to his baby Chickarita! Especially since he knows she usually is playing with me.)

Basil smacked me with her leaf and giggled once she got my attention. "Wakey, wakey Ru-Ru. Papa's gonna start teach-talking in a minute." She chirped at me through her giggles. (Don't ask me why I can hear her speak perfect Japanese one minute and only the weird name repetition the next; I don't know. For some reason I'm the only one who can though. The rest of the class looked at me like nuts when I first said I could understand her.)

"Thanks Basil." I muttered sleepily as I grinned at the little grass type. "Sorry I've been sleeping so much; I just don't know why I'm so tired." I stifle a yawn, barely. Meanwhile, Basil just giggles away at something behind me. (Is Kiba drooling?)

Twisting slightly to look over my shoulder led me face to face with the one and only Iruka sensei. "I know you kids are all tired after what Mizuki sensei has been putting you through, but I do actually need you all awake for class." He gently reprimanded Kiba, me, and judging by the sleepy yawns farther back in the classroom, Izumo and his crowd were napping too.

Now that Iruka had everyone's attention, he started to recap the logistics lesson from three weeks ago. About an hour later that mind-numbing lecture was over and Mizuki sensei strolled in like he hadn't been hunting us through the training fields all morning, Iruka started on his Pokémon typing lesson.

As usual, he started off with a question and answer section that involved a bunch of "What dragon types are available for the training portion of the Exam?", "What Pokémon would go best with my shoes?", and "Do we get to pick our own partners for the Exam?" for the millionth time this year.

Finally, one of the quieter students (Isn't his name Ginta?) asked a real lecture starter: "Is it true that there are really 18 different Pokémon types?"

"Good question Ginta." Iruka sensei smiled at him. "There is one more type that we haven't gone over: Fairy. This is actually the one nature, besides Ice, that we don't see much of in fire country. This absence is mostly due to the overabundance of Fire and Poison types native to our country. For this reason you also won't find many Fairy types near Mist country either; they have too many Steel types thanks to the third Mizukage's Purge of all people and Pokémon who don't have either Steel or Water nature."

Iruka paused for a moment here. "Fairy types are also slow to grow, similar to Physic types. Like all slow growth types however, their moves are either stronger than fast growth typed moves or have added effects; for example Disarming Voice is on the same ….chain level as Ember and they both have a power of 40 and while Ember can burn you, Disarming Voice never misses. Disarming Voice has a secondary effect though; it can hit multiple targets with one pulse."

If Iruka sensei didn't have everyone's attention before, he had it now. "Has everyone kept up so far? Yes, good. Now as you've probably assumed from my words only moments ago, Fairy types are weak to Fire, Poison, and Steel. They are quite effective against Fighting, Dark, and, most importantly, Dragon."

Iruka sensei paused until the confused murmurs ended. "Fairy types are most famous for their resistance to dragon types; although resistance is a bit inaccurate. You all remember that Dark types are immune to Physic attacks, just as Ground is immune to Electric; in this same way, Fairy is immune to Dragon."

Iruka raised a hand, palm out, to forestall any questions. "I am sure almost every girl in here currently wants a fairy type now, however, only one species is available in Fire country: the Delcatty line. While I'm sure very few of you know it by that name, you all should recognize the Daimyo court's most famous escapee: Tora."

"You mean that furry devil is a deli-what-y?" Kiba shouted over the rest of the rooms protests. (Not exactly surprising; most of the Inuzuka's non-Pokémon hounds have been put on bed rest for months because of her, a few of the actual Pokémon, too.)

Iruka sensei barely had time to nod before the bell rang. Basil started giggling from his desk.

"Papa got saved by the Bye-Bye Bell again!" The silly green baby started chanting as we all filed out of the classroom. "Bye Ru-Ru!" she called as I walked out, waving her leaf around her head the way you'd swing a sling.

I gave a huge over-the-head wave back, "Bye Basil, Bye Iruka Sensei!"

 **Iruka's POV**

I sighed as I watched Naruto bolt out of my class after saying goodbye.(At least he started paying more attention in class these past two years, but his grades still need improvement.)

I turned around and almost ran straight into Mizuki.

"Kami! Warn a person before standing that close." Judging by his twitching lips, he was way too amused to listen. (Sure enough, there's the obnoxious laughter. Aren't the tears in your eyes a bit much, though?)

"Sorry, but you really should pay more attention to your surroundings, we are ninja after all." Mizuki choked out.

I raised an eyebrow at him. He started laughing again.

"Is there a reason you're stalking me in here? You hate being cooped up in this building." I pointed out, finally having enough of his nonsense.

"Last night's results." With that said Mizuki calmly pulled out seven files from storage seals on his belt and handed them to me. (There are supposed to be eight! I had eight more students showing side-effects from the ANBU's knock-out cocktail.)

I flipped through the names inside. "Where is Sasuke's?" Mizuki shook his head.

"Don't worry about him; the elders have his. He passed." He said with a shrug, then he stared at the empty desks. "They said something about wanting another fail-safe in case we have another ….problem." (That can't be right. We are his teachers; we should be picking his exam partner, but we can't do that without his file.)

"So, including Sasuke, only three more students passed both portions of the psych exam?" I concluded, deciding to ignore the elders for now.

"Yeah, looks like these five failed the first section before they even got to the evaluation." Mizuki frowned. "And here I am chastising you for not acting like a ninja: these kids didn't even have the presence of mind to even try to figure out what was going on. That's rule number one when you're being held hostage."

"Right now they still think they need to take the test so they can get their partners, but they won't now." I sighed.

"Well, we can't let them remember and spoil the surprise for the other kids, now can we?" Mizuki teased. (Can this man miss the point anymore, or does killing students dreams make you numb after a few years?)

 **Disclaimer: See chapter 1**

 **Author's Note:**

Hi again!

Special thanks to Thor94 for being my first reviewer; also for reminding me to explain certain actions from last chapter.

Everyone should have a bit of a clearer picture why Naruto was drugged and immobilized now, if not I'll try to explain here:

1-The psych exam had two parts: one was ninja related (seeing if they could gather their wits about them enough to figure out where they were and possibly escape a scary situation that they had no memory of getting into), the second was purely to make sure they were mentally sound enough to not harm their new Pokémon partners, intentionally or not.

2-You don't have to be completely sane to pass the second portion (otherwise Kakashi, Might Gai, and Anko would be civilians) .

3-Students have to pass both parts to be part of the second exam.

4-The second exam takes two months of prep-work from the students after they are introduced to their partners.

5- Anybody who fails any part of the test get their chakra sealed permanently (This means those five who failed earlier are now doomed to be civilians Mizuki, you insensitive jerk!)

Reviews are greatly appreciated.

To everyone who has reviewed or favorite this story so far: enjoy these lovely imaginary cookies!


	3. Anticipation

**Anticipation**

 **Disclaimer: See chapter 1**

 **Iruka's POV:**

I finally got out of the crouch I had been in for the past half hour. Stifling a groan I stretched out my legs, then took a look at the huge planter that now covered an eighth of the room. (It could use a few more ferns in the back.)

"Why do we always have to remodel the auditorium every year just to give the students their exam partners?" Mizuki mumbled behind me. "Seems like a waste of time to me. The Pokémon are only going to be in here for two hours max."

"Why are you complaining you only put the curtain up and made the ghost and dark type's section; I'm the one who had to haul rocks, tanks, and every type of dirt imaginable in here." I gestured to my, now ruined, shirt and pants, glad I took my vest off before I started. "In any case, we're done now. Let's go get the little ones from the nursery. Did the elders finally tell you which Pokémon they chose for Sasuke?" I bit my lip with worry.

"Yeah they had here settled into the nursery last week, seems to get along well with the little squirt I picked for Naruto." Mizuki sounded bored. (Meh, he always did this time of year.) "I'll tell the ANBU to start gathering the ones who passed."

"Right. See you in about an hour." I said as I closed the curtain that cut the room in half.

 **Naruto's POV:**

Luckily I had just finished my last bowl of ramen when Rat appeared behind me. As it was, old man Ichiraku almost got completely splattered in miso broth, whoops!

"Uzumaki-san, the selection is about to get underway; please make your way to the academy auditorium." Rat announced in the ANBU's usual all-business manner before she disappeared in a swirl of leaves. (Man, I can't wait to learn how the do that jutsu, Dattebayo!)

I stopped that thought there, dropped enough cash beside my bowl to cover my meal, and darted out of Ichiraku's ramen stand as fast as my legs could carry me. I barely remembered to shout bye to the old man and Ayame nii-chan.

Despite making a new record to get to academy, I was the last one to arrive. (No fair! Even Choji and Shikamaru are here; how'd they get here so fast, their compounds are on the other side of the village!)

"There you are, Baka!" Katsume kicked a rock in my direction. "Sensei wouldn't let us in until everyone got here, so what in Arceus' name took you so long!"

"What're you talking about!" I growled, pissed that this jerk was calling me out, again. "I was just called, and I bolted right over here. I even beat my speed record by two and a half minutes!" By this point, I was right next to him, trying to shout in his face. (Why is everyone so much taller than me, Dattebayo? My nose only came level with his shoulder.)

Thank Arceus for Hinata-chan, she always seemed to know just when to ghost in, like now: "Naruto-kun, we w-were all summoned two hours ago."

That statement echoed around in my head for about a minute before I found my voice again. (Two whole hours! Why did someone only just now come and get me? Rat-chan was normally so nice to me.)

"Nani?" I whispered.

Before anyone could answer, Rat-chan leaf-swirled behind me and addressed the group. "Lizard was originally dispatched to collect Uzumaki-san, but got injured by a colleague's jutsu on his way here. The remaining ANBU did not receive notification of this until twenty-three minutes ago, when I was sent to collect him. The fault for his tardiness is ours, not his." Everyone blinked at her as she gave a slight bow in apology to the rest of my class and left again.

"I think you owe Dobe an apology Katsume." Sasuke-teme's voice cut through the silence. Teme got spared the mother of all WTF! Looks as Iruka-sensei opened the academy gate. (Seriously when does oh-so-perfect Sasuke stick up for anyone?)

Before any of us could enter, Basil decided she needed to sit on my head again. Once there, she whispered "Ru-Ru, Mizuki is being weird again and papa still hasn't noticed." Sadly, just like every other time she complained about this, I just didn't know what to tell her.

"Sorry, Basil." I gave her a sheepish smile.

Iruka took Basil off my head with a gentle smile. "You've got to raise your own partner not mine Naruto." He scolded gently. (Cue laughing Knuckleheads….No laughing….Still no laughing…WTH?!)

"Umm, Sensei where are Izumo and his gang? Talia and tsubaki aren't here either." I asked worried.

"They failed the first part of the exam." Iruka said quietly. The soft chatting that was going on behind us stopped too. "They are being chakra sealed as we speak."

"And only half of you are gonna train your partners well enough to escape that fate in the next two months." Mizuki piped up from the auditorium entrance. He was smart enough to scurry back inside the building before Iruka-Sensei beat him to a pulp.

Iruka sighed, and then led our, now very quiet, group into the renovated room. The part of the auditorium we were in was barely touched; the stage behind us was dark and dusty as usual. Only a large, floor length theater curtain separated the two halves. We could all hear faint splashing and a few flaps from the other side of the curtain.

Sensei had us line up with our backs to the stage, then " Okay, everyone is going to go through the curtain one at a time to receive their partners, the they are going to head out to the old jogging track out back to wait for everyone else. If you have any questions about your partner, just ask Mizuki; he's been given just about every speck of information we've got on these little ones."

"Also once you have your partner there is one basic rule regarding them on this part of the exam: You cannot leave the academy grounds with your partner unless you have Mizuki's permission or my own, and an ANBU guard. Now, if you have trained your partner to a sufficient level by April second, you will have passed the exam with flying colors. If not, you will have your chakra sealed and your partner will be taken from you." Iruka paused before giving us all a nod.

"Remember, each species of Pokémon is unique and has its own growth rate, so don't think you will fail because your rival's partner can do more than yours can. They may just have a species that grows faster. Likewise, each Pokémon has a method that helps them learn better; try every version you can think of if your partner doesn't immediately respond." Iruka smiled as he finished his lecture.

"First up: Shino Aburame." Iruka gestured to the curtain.

As soon as the bug loving brunette disappeared behind the curtain, I broke out in a cold sweat. "Uncle Kyuu..." I mentally whined, "I can't even teach myself how to do a basic clone! How am I gonna teach my partner anything?"

He didn't answer.

I must've fretted a lot longer then I meant to, because Ino Yamanaka, The only other blonde in our year, had started shaking me. "It's your turn, Baka." She screeched before giving me a shove towards the curtain.

Iruka-sensei caught me before I fell on my face and gave my arm a gentle squeeze before nudging me back towards the curtain. I shot him a smile in return just before I pulled the curtain to one side to meet Mizuki sensei.

 **Author's Notes:**

 _Sorry I took so long to update, between writers block and my new job updates are gonna be slow._

 _Also I forgot to mention this in my summary, but characters will be OOC a lot._

 _As far as my progress on chapter 4, (yes, I know I left y'all on a cliffhanger) I am almost finished with the rough draft and even now I can tell it's gonna be the longest chapter so far._

 _Props to my sister for making my cover art for this series, and for reminding me about the warnings. She's on multiple art sites including deviantart and artfight as_ _ **Fourclawedcreation,**_ _so go check her out._

 _Again please review, it helps with my writers block._


	4. Introduction

**Introduction**

 **Disclaimer: See chapter 1**

 **Naruto's POV:**

Mizuki sensei was not amused by my slow entrance. I gulped. Considering all the comments I've been getting from Basil, and the glare he was giving me now, I wouldn't be surprised if he gave me a kunai to the gut instead of my partner.

Then he sighed, shook his head, and the weird feeling left without a trace.

Mizuki tilted his head to one side, "I thought you wanted a partner, Naruto. What took you so long?"

"Sorry, Dattebayo." I rubbed the back of my head. "I think I got hit by some stray nerves." (Not even a lie.)

"Well, if that's all it was." Mizuki chuckled, for some reason he sounded relieved. "Your partner Pokémon is over here, and she's a cute little thing, too!" I was beginning to doubt I felt that craziness from before at all.

Sensei walked over to the right hand corner of the room, where a large raised flowerbed sat, gesturing for me to follow. He walked over to a plant with large, red-centered green leaves (I think Sakura called them elephant ears?) and carefully lifted one of the larger leaves.

Underneath was a tiny white body, barely any bigger than my hand and about as thick around as my wrist, topped with short, silky, bowl-cut blue hair and a pair of orange horn like things. Whatever she was, Mizuki was right, she was cute, not to mention fast asleep.

I held my breath as sensei reached out and shook her awake.

She let out a squeaky yawn as she stretched out two pencil thin nubs that must've been her arms. Then she sat up and faced us; her hair falling over expressive orange eyes. After staring for a moment she stood on two stumpy little legs, and used one of her little arm nubs to push some of her hair out of her eyes.

"Hello dear" Mizuki called out," this is the boy I told you about: Naruto san." He gestured to me.

" _OH, hello"_ she chirped out to me, releasing her hair so she could wave at me. I saw Sensei wince out of the corner of my eye.

"Now, Naruto." Mizuki began, interrupting the moment before I could say anything in return. "There are a few things you need to know about this little girl, before you join the others. First: she a ralts; a rare species that is only occasionally found in Grass country. We were given here as part of our treaty deals last year. Second: ralts are dual typed Pokémon; Psychic and Fairy type to be exact. It's a pretty powerful combo, but she still hasn't grown into that power yet, especially the Psychic portion. Third: she's capable of mega evolving." Mizuki held up a hand to stop me from interrupting.

"We don't know what the conditions are for a member of her species, unfortunately. Finally, Fourth: According to the limited Intel Grass gave us with her egg, she's a shiny." Mizuki stared at me while I processed that bomb-shell.

Not believing my luck, I finally asked "Why do I get her? Wouldn't a partner this awesome go to one of the clan heirs, or maybe Sakura since she's Kounoichi of the year?"

"Actually, no." Mizuki deadpanned. "I picked her for you for two reasons, well technically three. She's a fairy type, and that type is well known for being mischievous. They're almost as bad as Ghost types! That personality quirk makes her perfect for the prankster king." He paused to ruffle my hair.

"Another reason is your unusually high aptitude for diplomacy, when you're not pissed, anyway." Mizuki muttered that last part. "Ralts are known as emotion Pokémon; so she could be a great help if your Jounin sensei decides to develop it."

"The last reason is simple: since you need to be able to mega evolve one of your partners in order to advance to Hokage, It's common practice to give most students a partner that can right off the bat. We didn't have quite enough this year to give all of our eligible students one, so we gave our little ones to who we thought they'd get along with best." He shot a wink at ralts.

By the time he finished, I was grinning so much it hurt. I turned back to my, patiently waiting, shiny partner.

"Would you like a name ralts-chan? Or do you not like them?" I asked curiously.

" _Name, please!"_ she giggled. Next thing I knew she was clinging to the front of my jacket.

"You two had better head out to the track yard." Mizuki sounded strained. "The rest of your class is getting used to their partners over there."

"You got it, Dattebayo!" I shouted as I got a better grip on the tiny blue-haired girl. I bolted straight to the yard.

 **Ralts POV:**

My trainer was loud. His verbal voice and his emotional pulses just demanded attention; they woke me up better than the ice haired man's shaking did.

He held me tight as he ran through the strange halls of the human school. His happiness was so warm; I couldn't help but cuddle closer.

Oh, now we are outside and there are more people. These must be the other trainers.

"OI, Kiba!" My Sun-haired trainer called out to an Earth-haired boy with blood triangles on his cheeks. By the feet of the boy now known as Kiba, Two hounds both lifted their heads in curiosity.

One hound I recognized form the nursery: a Houndour. The other I did not. I thought I knew all the different species that my trainer would come into contact with until graduation.

Then it barked.

So it is not a Pokémon at all. Maybe a ninja hound then? The nice Inuzuka clan lady who gave us check-ups at the nursery brought hers sometimes. Hmm, this boy does look like her.

"Hey." A familiar voice called out behind us. My trainer (Didn't the ice-haired man call him Naruto?) spun around just in time to be talked by a ball of red fur.

"Wha?" my Naruto shouted.

"Ruby what are you doing?" a new boy called out. This one had hair the color of the night; it also stuck up in the back.

"Saying hi to my favorite nursery-mate's trainer." The little Vulpix, apparently now named Ruby, answered without missing a beat.

I shot a wave of happiness to the little she-fox.

My Naruto started talking, or rather shouting, at Ruby's trainer. Luckily she didn't seem to mind.

Ruby's trainer ignored my Naruto's shouting and instead took Ruby and settled her in his arms, eye level with me. She licked me chin to hairline.

I laughed as I tried to wipe her slobber from my hair as our trainer's stopped whatever their argument was at once.

"Eww!" "Ruby!" they called out. My Naruto tried to use the sleeve of his strange orange jacket to dry my hair. Meanwhile, the dark haired trainer dug in his pockets for something. A moment later he pulled out a grey hanky with a weird red and white lollypop in one corner.

The hanky worked much better than my trainer's sleeves.

"Thanks Sasuke-Teme." My Naruto said as he gave back the hanky.

Dude, your fur ball slimed Naruto's partner pretty good." Kiba laughed. Both hounds by his feet wagged their tails. Ruby's trainer, Sasuke, glared at him.

"Oi, be nice Kiba. Ruby was just saying hi! At least her version doesn't require multiple baths like Akamaru's does." Kiba turned red at this, and the white hound by his feet barked happily. Must be Akamaru.

Kiba then gave my trainer a playful shove, being careful not to hit me, and asked, "So whatcha gonna call her?"

"All of our friends came up with some wicked names for our little buddies, like my shadow here." Kiba gestured to his Houndour who gave a purr-like rumble. "Even our resident Ice Prince came up with a good one." The brunette winked at Ruby.

"I don't know yet." Naruto muttered. I felt waves of uncertainty pulse through him as he bit his lip.

I was nervous, too. Our names are our first gift from our trainers. They symbolize the individuality for us Pokémon, and our trainer's hope for our partnership. How well our trainers are able to come up with a name we like is also an indication of how close we will become later.

Ruby and her Sasuke are probably gonna be really close, she loves gems.

Shadow and Ruby both sent me waves of encouragement as our trainers sat in a loose circle and started discussing possibilities.

Kiba kept popping up with random stuff based on my appearance. Sasuke didn't offer much, other than saying my name would need to be fierce. My Naruto just shook his head before opening his mouth, hesitating and shaking again.

This was going to take a while.

"For the last time, I'm not naming her Cloud just because she's white!" Naruto shouted at Kiba an hour later.

Sasuke just stared at Kiba before turning to look at Naruto. "Got any other ideas, Dobe?"

"Not really. Nothing feels right." My sun haired trainer flopped back and stared at the sky.

"I know Iruka sensei said picking a name is like solving a riddle, but this one feels impossible." He groaned.

I giggled; I liked riddles and puzzles, the harder the better.

Beside me, Ruby's eyes got big. Then she jumped up and ran in circles around Naruto chanting "That's it, that's it!"

"Huh, is something wrong with her?" Kiba asked confused.

"What's it?" Naruto asked.

"Name, The Name!" Ruby was too excited to say anything else.

"Riddle?" Sasuke asked after a moment. Sasuke was treated to slobber facial curtsey of Ruby.

I was quiet.

"Riddle-chan?" My Naruto turned to me. "Would you like that name: Riddle-chan?"

Just like back in the introduction room, I found myself clinging to his large orange jacket, but with no memory of when I jumped.

"Riddle-chan it is!" He crowed. "It's nice to finally meet you."

 **Author's Note:**

I'm Back! Editing made this chapter a little shorter that its rough draft, but it's still my longest yet at almost 1700 words before my author's note.

Before anyone asks, I always name any ralts I've caught in game riddle because I think psychic types are supposed to have mysterious names, and I couldn't resist giving it to Naruto's partner, too. Despite this she is NOT supposed to be me, she's much smarter.

Also, I forgot to mention this in earlier chapters, but Naruto's graduating class is about 14-15 right now. Mostly because I can't bear the thought of the first part of the exam happening before they were officially in their teens. The other reason is so I can ship them.

Please review and I hope you're enjoying it.


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